A birthday is always a time for celebration, but also an excellent opportunity to remember the years gone by.

For 19 years, Joomla has changed. A LOT. These changes were decided and implemented by volunteers - women and men - who gave their time for this project.

I have also been a volunteer for Joomla since 2014. In more than 10 years, I have crossed paths with many of you at events in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. I have also had the chance to work with some of you, sometimes only on a project, sometimes for years.

Without a specific order, I would like to celebrate here 19 people who have given me courage, advices, help, joy, motivation, over these years. Without these amazing people, my journey would not have been the same and without them, Joomla would probably not be what it is today.

Sarah Watz

Sarah is the archetype of the leader who made me want to invest even more in Joomla. As a president of Open Source Matters, she did A LOT for Joomla. I had the opportunity to meet her in Stockholm and it was a fantastic moment. Thank you Sarah!

Tessa Mero

When I was asking a question about a Joomla extension, Tessa replied me that I could become a volunteer to make things happen faster. I've applied, she replied me and I have served on the Joomla Extension Directory... for 6 years. Thank you Tessa!

Paul Franklin

Paul trained me on the Joomla Extensions Directory in 2014. And we worked together for 6 years. Thanks to Paul, I really felt that my "work" as a Joomla volunteer was really useful to the Community. It was an exciting and enriching collaboration. Thank you Paul!

Sandra Decoux & Marc-Antoine Thevenet

As far as I remember, these 2 Frenchies were probably my first contact with the Joomla Community Magazine. Sandra and MAT were also helping on so many projects and Joomla teams. Their input is just incredible. Thank you Sandra and MAT!

Michael Russell

Friendship doesn't have barriers and borders. Michael is a good Australian Joomla friend of mine since many years now. We are both volunteers (I define myself more as evangelist) and Michael helps others on Joomla topics since "many" years now. Thank you Michael!

Ruchika Nagarkar & Rishi Vishwakarma

Ruchika and Rishi are Joomla developers from India, and I have worked with them for a few years. We became friends, and I've invited them to attend to the J&Beyond at Barcelona. And they became famous as they are smiling on the Joomla official portal since many years. Thank you Ruchika and Rishi!

David Aswani

Meeting a Kenyian Joomler at 3AM in an Indian airport is a unique experience, and I'll never forget that incredible moment. David is so enthusiastic, so passionate, so friendly, so Joomla lover, you can only want being like him. Thank you David!

Eric Lamy

I've meet Eric at my first Joomladay in Paris (2014). Since, we've participated to many Joomla events in France but also abroad: Rome, Bangalore, Vancouver, etc. and shared laughs, ideas, projects, clients, breakfast, presentations, with the same passion for Joomla. Thank you Eric!

Sébastien Lapoux

I've also served the French Joomla Community for many years, when Sébastien was president. Apart from creating Seblod, the first Joomla CCK, he has successfully been leading the national association with his leadership, and his entrepreneurial mindset. He was the last exemplary president of the French association and he is still an example to follow. Thank you Sébastien!

Crystal and Nikolaos Dionysopoulos

Everyone in the Joomla ecosystem knows Akeeba Backup from Nikolaos. I saw Akeeba extensions installed on EVERY Joomla website I've worked on. And Crystal serves as president of Open Source Matters with talent, smart, benevolent, and dedication. Thank you Crystal and Nikolaos!

Kawshar Ahmed

In the Joomla ecosystem, there are successes, some large successes, and there is Kawshar. He created JoomShaper, a dev extension and template business, he turned it into millions dollars success story and his success has widely promoted the development of Joomla. Thank you Kawshar!

Carlos Camara

Monsieur Carlos is another great inspiration to me. Developer, blogger, podcaster, author, marathon runner, this friendly Spanish Joomla volunteer is a real Swiss-knife. His contribution to the Joomla project over the years, is priceless. Thank you Carlos!

Elisa Foltyn

There are thousands of volunteers in the Joomla ecosystem, but Elisa is unique to me. Since years, Elisa develops Joomla extensions, creates amazing Joomla projects that help others on daily basis, educates German students with Joomla, and always with her lovely smile. Thank you Elisa!

Ronni K. Gothard Christiansen

Ronni created some famous Joomla extensions, served on the Governance Working Group and Board of Directors for Open Source Matters for years, and helped to decentralize the world’s largest non-profit organization by introducing a democratic and transparent election system. As volunteer. Thank you Ronni!

Luca Marzo

We all know Luca, the famous Open Source Matters secretary since March 2017. Without his dedication, his passion, his work, and his time since 7 years, Joomla and Open Source Matters would have been "different". Thank you Luca!

Andrew Eddie and the Joomla creators

And finally, I can't close this birthday celebration without thanking those who created Joomla 19 years ago. Without them, we couldn't have a free and open source content managing system like Joomla, and we couldn't have created the businesses we have. Thank you guys!

I could have named so many other fantastic Joomlers, because all the volunteers deserved their place here. 
Since 19 years, thousands of fabulous volunteers gave their time, their skills, their efforts, and their blood to Joomla.

Please, take few minutes to think about those who helped you in your Joomla journey and don't forget to thank them with a call, a message, an e-mail, or whatever you want. They deserve it.